The Africa Institute Engages at the First Toni Morrison Society Summer Symposium on African Diasporic Vision and Legacies

The Africa Institute, Global Studies University (GSU), recently supported the Toni Morrison Society‘s inaugural Summer Symposium held from June 24 – June 27, 2024, at the Aimé Césaire Theater in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Themed “Diasporic Vision and Legacies,” the Symposium convened global experts to explore the lasting impact of American novelist, essayist, and librettist Toni Morrison and Martiniquais poet, playwright, and political leader Aimé Césaire.

On June 26, Professors Surafel Wondimu Abebe and Philathia Bolton represented The Africa Institute (GSU) in a roundtable discussion titled “The Future of Connections in the African Diaspora.” Alongside sixty-five scholars, readers, and artists from the US, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean, they engaged in panels and discussions addressing fundamental inquiries: What defined Morrison and Césaire’s diasporic vision, and how did it shape their artistic and political endeavors? Furthermore, they explored the influence of Morrison and Césaire on other African Diasporic writers, as well as the contemporary benefits and challenges of maintaining cultural connections within the Diaspora.

Surafel Wondimu Abebe, Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and Theory at The Africa Institute (GSU), UAE presented his research on “Imagining Multiple Futures: Reconfiguring Africa in African Diaspora Studies.” Abebe, holding a Ph.D. in Performance Historiography, brings extensive expertise in exploring the intersections of performance, culture, and identity within African contexts.

Philathia Bolton, Inaugural Toni Morrison Senior Fellow at The Africa Institute (GSU), UAE, and Associate Professor of English at The University of Akron, Ohio, shared insights on “The Role of Humanities Research Opportunities and Institutional Alliances in Building Connections in the African Diaspora.” Bolton’s work focuses on 20th-century African-American literature and critical race studies, highlighting Morrison’s significant influence on cultural discourse.

“The symposium offered an impressive balance between intellectual engagement and meaningful socio-cultural experiences. Attendees gathered cliffside at the L’Anse Cafard Memorial to pay solemn homage to enslaved Africans who perished, and we also experienced a beautiful rededication of the Toni Morrison bench outside of the Aimé Césaire theater, as part of the Toni Morrison Society’s Bench by the Road Project. Most significantly, the rounds of presentations and discussions, particularly seeing the ways in which Morrison’s impact continues to echo across the Diaspora in the form of art exhibitions and musical pieces influenced by her, and allusions to her work in other places, was particularly a rich. Such discussions will no doubt inform my work,” said Professor Bolton.

The three-day symposium also featured keynote speakers Edwidge Danticat, Haitian American novelist and Morrison scholar, and Daniel Maximin, Guadeloupean novelist, poet, and Césaire scholar. Additionally, three Martiniquais artists presented during the event: Poet Marie Line Ampigny, mask maker Sylviane Eneleda, and sculptor Laurent Valére. Another highlight was the rededication of the “Bench by the Road,” originally placed by the Toni Morrison Society in honor of Cesaire’s 100th Birthday in 2013.

Board Chair Carolyn Denard stated, “This is an important moment in our history to explore these questions, and we hope that this Symposium establishes a blueprint for continued, impactful discussions about the culture, history, and future of people in the African Diaspora.”

Founded on May 28, 1993, at the annual meeting of the American Literature Association in Baltimore, Maryland, the Toni Morrison Society grew from 26 scholars and supporters convened by Carolyn Denard, then an Associate Professor of English at Georgia State University. Initially the 41st author society in the American Literature Association and the fourth dedicated to an African American author, the Society rapidly expanded following Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize win in 1993. Incorporated in Georgia in 1995 and established as a non-profit in 1997, the Society’s mission expanded beyond Morrison’s novels to include political, cultural, and historical implications of her work. Its Biennial Conference series, launched in 1998, explores Morrison’s themes at significant locations in her life and novels, complemented by initiatives like the “Language Matters” Service Initiative and “The Bench by the Road Project,” which commemorate African American history and engage communities worldwide.